


True Love is in Short Supply

by aintweproudriff



Series: Race, Spot, Albert, and Elmer [16]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: M/M, Multi, babies aaaa, they grow up so fast i cant, they're all just so sweet with ivy its pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 08:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13407573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aintweproudriff/pseuds/aintweproudriff
Summary: Prompt: Spralmer babysitting Ivy when she's a little older, and they realize that they're already a little family on their own, but maybe they're ready for moreI love these boys so much





	True Love is in Short Supply

**Author's Note:**

> this fic was such a good break from get lost. don't get me wrong, i love it, but i also need some pure fluff. with babies.

“Thank you guys so much again for helping us out,” David said, his hands signing each word he spoke. Jack had explained to Spot a while back that they were teaching Ivy American Sign Language and English as she grew up, so she’d be bilingual in her daily life. The problem with that, of course, was that Jack and Crutchie also had to learn enough sign language to communicate with their daughter. So Davey was constantly signing, and doing his best to remember the language.

“Of course, we’d love to help, anytime,” Elmer smiled, and Crutchie put their hand on his shoulder. 

“Normally Kath and Sarah babysit, you know, but-”

“Sarah’s got the flu, Davey already said that when he called us,” Race nodded at Jack.

“Okay, we need to get goin’,” Crutchie looked at Ivy, who was playing on the floor with a blue plastic ball. They then turned to Jack, then Davey. “Let’s make it fast, like ripping off a band-aid, okay? Last time,” they turned to look at Spot, “Davey almost cried when we left her.”

“Yeah, I did,” Davey gave in to the teasing.”It was bad.”

“What’s gonna happen when she starts going to school?” Race asked. Jack’s eyes got wide. 

Davey pointed an accusing finger at Race. “Don’t even make me think about that yet, okay? We’re going to deal with that when we deal with that.”

“Go enjoy your date, you three. Go have fun,” Albert pushed Jack’s shoulder. “And don’t worry about us at all. We’re going to be just fine, alright?”

The three parents, despite their want to stay, found themselves on the other side of the door. And the four uncles, despite their initial confidence, found themselves alone in a room with an eighteen month old baby. 

She giggled and kept playing, while the four of them began to feel an awkward wariness fall over them. 

“El?” Spot said after a tense pause. “You’re good with kids, right? Can you help out a little with this?”

“Oh my god, okay,” Elmer rolled his eyes, exasperated, and grabbed Albert’s hand. He pulled him down to the ground, and began to roll the ball around. 

Ivy only looked at him weirdly for a second before saying “ba” and going after it. 

Elmer smiled at her, then at Albert. When he looked up at Spot and Race, he waved for them to come over and sit on the floor. They both gave unsure looks, but joined their boyfriends on the rug. Ivy kicked the ball and watched as it rolled away. She sighed, as if she thought it would be like climbing a mountain to go and get it again. So instead, she toddled over to her toy box behind Spot and he pushed the lid open so she could reach inside. She leaned over the edge, stretching in, and grabbed a little toy doll. As soon as she stood up again to pull it out, the lid slipped out of Spot’s fingers and thudded on her head. The boys all held their breath as she turned around, her face scrunching up in preparation for the loudest scream she could muster. Elmer flew forward just as she let it out, picking her up and pulling her close to his chest before standing up. 

“Hey Ivy,” he whispered as she kept screaming, tears running down her face. “You’re okay. I know, that hurt, huh? That’s no fun. Aw, but you’re okay, right?” he asked her, and she sniffled. “Yeah, you’re okay. It’s alright.” He bounced her for a few minutes more, his chest rising and falling kindly as he kept whispering and humming to his niece. Over time, she stopped crying. 

“Here,” he said a little louder, “do you wanna go see your Uncle Spot? He didn’t mean to drop it, I promise. Oh, and he’s very sorry about it too.”

Spot was shaking his head, eyes terrified of holding the baby, especially now that he’d hurt her. 

Ivy’s face was dry now, but her breath still hitched every now and again, as if she understood that Elmer was suggesting she go be held by the person who had dropped the lid on her head. 

“I’ll help him, it’s alright,” Elmer reassured her and Spot. “He’s gonna do alright.”

Race and Albert watched with amusement as Elmer motioned for Spot to get to his feet and move to the couch. 

“Here we go,” Elmer said softly, smiling. “We’ll just put you on Uncle Spot’s lap, yeah?” He moved Spot’s arm to support her.  
Ivy didn’t seem to mind much that Spot was nervous to hold her. Maybe having a parent as anxious as Davey made a person accustomed to being on the lap of someone who sat so rigidly. 

“See?” Elmer asked the baby girl. “That’s not too bad, is it? It’s all okay, right?”

“Yeah,” Spot whispered. “Yeah, okay.” He relaxed into the couch, and Ivy grabbed on to his finger. Luckily, Spot smiled at that; otherwise, Elmer might have broken up with him. Albert and Race smiled up at the three of them from the floor. 

“Come here,” Elmer said hushedly, patting the couch next to him. 

As they climbed up, Spot turned Ivy around gently so that she was standing on his lap, looking up at him. He puffed his cheeks up with air, and she giggled. 

“Pass her over?” Elmer asked Spot. The reluctance in Spot’s face was obvious, but he did as he was asked. 

“Here.”

Albert took Ivy from Elmer, and she stood on his lap just like she had stood on Spot’s. “Hi Ivy,” Albert smiled. “I met you a little bit ago. Do you remember me?”

She babbled happily, and Albert laughed. 

“Oh, okay. That makes sense, that you would remember Uncle Elmie and not me. He talked to you more last time, huh?” Albert spoke to her like he would in an actual conversation and Elmer and Spot’s eye contact made it quite clear that they each thought it was adorable. “I’m your Uncle Albie. And you’re my niece! Isn’t that exciting, that I have a niece?  
Never really thought that would happen.”

Race laughed. “Okay, okay, my turn. Hand her over to me.”

“You wanna go see Uncle Race?” Albert lifted her up and put her on Race’s lap, so that she was sitting with her feet pointing at him. He looked at her face and smiled. 

“Hi Ivy,” he grinned. In a second, his hand was behind her head, and the other one was on her back. He dipped her backwards, letting her hang almost vertically before pulling her back up. Spot gasped softly, clearly still scared of hurting his brother’s daughter. 

But when she sat back up, she was laughing, her eyes scrunched up. She leaned back into Race’s grip, and he dipped her again. 

“It’s fun, see?” he asked Ivy, and then looked pointedly at Spot. “I used to do this with kids when I would babysit. They were a little bit bigger than you, though,” he smiled at Ivy. 

She leaned back again, smiling as wide as she could, and he dipped her back. 

“Oh my god,” Albert breathed, and Elmer had difficulty distinguishing if he said it because he was amazed or because he was terrified. With Race, it was hard not to be both. 

Race picked her up under her armpits, and raised her up dramatically, like he was in The Lion King. He swung her around, scooping her and making her fly around. She just giggled harder, but Spot absolutely looked scared shitless now. 

“Race…” he warned, his voice wavering. 

“It’s alright, I promise,” Race laughed, bringing Ivy back to his chest. “See? She’s pretty happy ‘bout it.”

Spot huffed. “Okay, I’ll trust you. But be careful, please.”

“You want her back, don’t you?”

“Yeah, can I-” he replied quickly “-can I hold her again?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s alright,” Race smiled at his boyfriend, who stood up. 

Spot and Ivy reached for each other at the same time, and Ivy put her arms around her uncle’s neck. He bounced her a little bit, but she leaned back against his hands. 

“Oh my god, now she’s just gonna keep doing it, isn’t she?” Spot said, exasperated. At least now he was moving with her, a little more relaxed and easygoing. “Race, you’ve created a daredevil. Next thing you know, she’s gonna be, like, skydiving and stuff.”

“That’s not gonna be my fault!” Race protested. “That’ll be on Jack, if anyone.”

Elmer looked around, smiling at his bickering boyfriends. His phone chirped with a notification, and he paused to go look at it. He’d gotten an email was all, but what really surprised him was the time. 

“You guys, it’s already eight-thirty. Didn’t Davey say-”

“Eight o’clock? Yeah, he did,” Albert nodded and grimaced. “We’re bad babysitters, aren’t we?”

“Yeah, we probably are,” Elmer laughed, looking at Ivy. “We’re not great, for sure. Let’s get her to bed, yeah? Better late than never.”

Spot bounced on his toes gently. “She’s never gonna go to sleep now, she’s too worked up. Thanks to someone, who won’t be named.” 

Race glared back at Spot. “I’m sure Elmer can figure somethin’ out, right?”

“Give her here,” Elmer smiled and held out his hands. Thankfully, she cooperated with being held for so long. “Hi, baby,” he cooed at her. “No, you’re not gonna go backwards again, sorry. Can we get you to calm down a little bit?” Elmer dropped his voice to a whisper. “Can we do that? I know, you had fun with your uncles. That’s good.”

She must have been tired already, since she leaned into Elmer the more he talked, and even more when he started singing softly. Her eyes finally dropped closed when he went into her dark room. He couldn’t resist kissing the top of her head before he laid her down in her crib. 

He closed the door and kept his steps soft on the way back to Jack, Davey, and Crutchie’s living room. Spot had turned on the baby monitor, which was buzzing softly, calmly. Elmer smiled at it, then sat down next to Albert. Albert put his head in Elmer’s lap, letting Elmer run his hands through his hair mindlessly. 

“Elmer, do you-” Race whispered, his breath catching on the words. “Do you still want kids?”

“Still?” Elmer asked, desperately wishing his brain could form an answer to the question. 

“Yeah, still. Like, you mentioned a couple times that you thought you’d be a good dad and, honestly, it’s hard not to agree.”

“Oh. I mean, yeah, I want kids. I definitely always have.”

“El,” Spot spoke up. “Do you want kids with us?”

His heart jumped a bit, but he pinned it down as fast as he could. “Well, ideally, yeah. Who else would I want kids with?”

“Well, you know,” Spot shrugged. “I kinda worried that after tonight, you might think we wouldn’t be good dads. Or that we wouldn’t wanna be dads.”

“Do you want to have kids?” Elmer asked the question back. “Do you want to be dads?”

A little positive, embarrassed, muttering was his answer. There were a few whispered ‘yeah’s, and Elmer smiled. 

“Not right now, though,” Albert clarified. “We’re not even married.”

If the question of children hadn’t been a weight, the question of marriage certainly was. A beat of silence passed.

“We are gonna get married, right?” Albert looked up at Elmer, and almost sat all the way up. 

“I mean-” Elmer started. 

Race interrupted him. “Al, I don’t know if you just proposed or not, and I’m kinda too tired to ask. But that’s always kinda been my plan, yeah.”

“Mine too,” Spot nodded.

“Yeah, me too,” Elmer ran his hand up and down Albert’s arm as he said it. 

“Good,” Albert smiled and closed his eyes. “Because I wanna marry you guys too.”

“I do too.”

“I really do.”

“Yeah.”

Another beat of silence passed, longer this time. 

“Oh my god,” Elmer breathed. “Does that kinda sorta mean that we just-”

Spot laughed. “Fuck it, yeah,” he raised his hands above his head, which was sill resting on the arm of the couch. “We just got engaged.”

Elmer couldn’t breathe. He did his best, but all that came out was a few laughing gasps. “Oh my god.”

Albert shook his head. “I feel like I should be more excited. But it doesn’t feel life-changing, you know?”

“Yeah.” Race sat up, grabbing Spot’s hand. “I’m happy, y’know? But it’s not a big deal. Like I said: I had a plan, and that’s it. I always knew that.”

“Nah,” Elmer laughed. “I’m excited. This is a big deal.”

Spot chuckled. “Well, I definitely didn’t think it would happen in my brother’s apartment, with his baby sleeping in the next room, but yeah. I knew this was part of the plan a long time ago.”

“Jesus,” Elmer squinted. “I missed the memo of this plan, I think.”

The door to the apartment creaked open, revealing a very tired group of parents. 

“Hi, guys,” Crutchie smiled. “Everything go alright?”

Albert, Spot, Elmer, and Race looked at each other, biting back giggles. 

“Darn near perfect, actually,” Spot grinned. “Just about perfect. How was the date?”

“Good. It was really-” David looked at his spouses “-yeah. Good.”

“I’m glad,” Race clapped him on the shoulder, and David went to reach for his wallet. 

“How much do you guys charge?” Davey asked, opening it and pulling out a few twenties. 

“Dave, come on,” Albert shook his head. “You don’t need to pay us, we’re family now.”

Jack laughed. “Now?”

“Yeah,” Spot laughed. “I guess so. You’ve got a few new in-laws, Jackie.”

Crutchie gaped. “Seriously? Oh my god, you guys, weren’t you going to tell us earlier? Like, before we left, so that we could have celebrated and not be whispering about it?”

“If we’d known before you had left that we were going to be getting married, we probably would have,” Elmer shrugged and blushed as Crutchie figured it out. 

“You mean you just got engaged, in our house, while you were babysitting?” Jack said in disbelief. 

“Guess so,” Spot nodded happily. Before anyone else could say anything, he held out his hands. “And, uh, we just got engaged. So this is kinda a big night, and you don’t want us staying here much longer, if you know what I mean. So we’ll tell you later, and get out of your hair, alright?”

David drew in his breath sharply. 

“Yeah, get out of here, you dorks,” Crutchie smiled, hitting Elmer’s shoulder on the way out. “And congratulations.”

**Author's Note:**

> surprise surprise, yall. now i have to write a wedding, huh? crap. 
> 
> come say hi on tumblr @javidblue!


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